The Cambridge Companion to Goethe [Paperback]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is universally considered to be the greatest German writer ever, and one of the paragons of world literature at large. At least one of his books, "The Sufferings of Young Werther", is widely read in high schools the world over. The institute for the promotion of German culture abroad is named after Goethe. And, yes, the German language teacher in our senior high (a really rough old lady) adored the man and his work.

Personally, I haven't read anything by Goethe. I probably never will. Still, I found "The Cambridge Companion to Goethe" to be very interesting. And revealing, too! The anthology doesn't just deal with Goethe's literary output or his scientific musings. It also tells us something of Goethe the man and Goethe the politician. And that information turns out to be pretty compromising.

This anthology shows that Goethe was no friend of freedom. Far from it. He was a Throne and Altar conservative. Indeed, he was actually a high-ranking government official in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and a close confidant of the duke Carl August himself. The duke was challenged by both radical students and discontented peasants. At least the latter actually had a valid legal case: they were defending their traditional medieval liberties from encroachments by the duke and the nobility. Goethe opposed both the students and the peasants. He even opposed the moderately democratic constitution introduced by the duke in 1816, a constitution that set up a parliament and a very restricted form of freedom of the press. Further, Goethe was anti-Semitic and sharply criticized Carl August for extending the rights of Jews in 1823, including the right of intermarriage with Christians.

Despite opposing the French revolution, Goethe nevertheless admired Napoleon. Indeed, Goethe saw Napoleon as a genius. The feeling was mutual: Napoleon actually stopped at Goethe's house in Weimar during his speedy return from Russia in order to discuss "The Sufferings of Young Werther"! The servant who answered the door bell must have been surprised... Carl August, who presumably didn't like the new master of Europe, eventually moved against Napoleon, and both he and Goethe made their peace with the Holy Alliance after the war. Still, Goethe insisted on wearing a medal Napoleon had awarded him, even after the French emperor had been defeated.

On a more sinister note, the anthology reveals that Goethe supported the death penalty for infanticide. A proposal to abolish it was voted down by the Privy Council, of which Goethe was a member, thereby condemning a young woman imprisoned for infanticide to death. Once again, Carl August was actually more liberal than Goethe, since the proposal to abolish capital punishment for infanticide came from the duke himself!

"The Cambridge Companion to Goethe" contains an entire chapter about Goethe's backward, misogynist view of women. He even carried out a private campaign of sorts against women writers, whom he accused of "dilettantism". On this issue, of course, Goethe was hardly unique. Ironically, his own wife was a victim of class and gender intolerance, since she wasn't of noble birth. Christiane Vulpius was never accepted by Weimar high society, despite Goethe's own high standing at the local court. Goethe had to let Christiane live in the servants' quarters of his house!

As you might have guessed, these political and gender-related issues is what interested me most in the anthology. Of course, the book also covers a lot of other topics: Weimar classicism, Goethe's views of Christianity and religion, the making of Goethe's magnum opus "Faust", Goethe as art critic, etc. The supposed homosexual aspect of his visit to Italy isn't analyzed, however. Too hot?

One thing is clear: Goethe was the Mephistopheles of Weimar. That is the kernel of the poodle.

› Go to Amazon.com to see the review  4.0 out of 5 stars